Exploring for the adoring fans (Hi Mom!)

Since Switzerland is known for its gorgeous mountains and landscapes, we decided to ask Kevin, a fellow post-doc in my lab, for recommendations.  He suggested Üetliberg, just a 15 minute train ride from the Zurich Hauptbahnhof (Zurich main station) on the Swiss Federal Railways (abbreviated as SBB CFF FFS).  

On a side note, the Zurich HB is the central station in Zurich that connects to almost everywhere else in Switzerland.  Not only can we get to Üetliberg, but we can also get to the Zurich Flughafen (Zurich Airport), Geneva, Lausanne and Bern (the capital of Switzerland) with ease.  With the help of travel agents inside the stations, the SBB can even take you to the surrounding countries like Italy, Germany, France and Lichtenstein.  For work, I only take the SBB back and forth from Zurich and Thalwil, but we do intend on using SBB to get all over Europe!

So we left from Thalwil, got to Zurich HB, then transferred to the S10 line to get to Üetliberg.  The train practically took us all the way up the mountain to some breathtaking views, despite being a fairly cloudy day.  The engineer treated us to a few Thomas-the-Tank-Engine style whistles on the way up the mountain!

Go away clouds.  I want to see the mountains.

At the top of a tower in Üetliberg.

This was followed by Jenica's first restaurant experience in Zurich at the Uto Kulm Resturant, while I have already been eating out for a fair bit.  While Jenica has been diligently making her lunch at home from the Migros and Coop goods, I have been going out to the mensas (the campus dining facilities, not the high IQ society).  There are several campus mensas out there, such as pasta mensa and asian mensa, which offer things like different pasta or mongolian/indian dishes.  I guess I am still too used to eating out at food trucks for lunch everyday.

Jenica's air-dried beef sandwich with buttered bread and pickles. 

My bratwurst in a red wine onion sauce mit Zuri Fries (with Zurich fries). 

Combined with the views, this was a great way to have lunch.  Although, as we left, we passed by what appeared to be the restaurant's mascots.

All hail the giraffe king.

We then traversed between Üetliberg mountain, past Balderen and to Felsenberg on the Gratstrasse trail (about a 5.5 km walk).  According to the map, it was flach and gut begehbar (flat, easy).  We'll have to go back an do a more difficult trail next time.

We traversed between "5" and "10". 

 When we arrived at Felsenberg, we took a gondola down the mountain to Adiswil (between Zurich HB and Thalwil)!!!  Very Swiss.

So excited to be on a Gondola!

A view of the gondola's path from Adliswil.

Of course, we decided to do the hike on Samstage (Saturday), so there was limited public transportation between Adliswil and Thalwil.  As such, we would've had to back-track to Zurich HB then go back to Thalwil.  So, I had the brilliant idea to WALK from Adiswil to Thalwil.  The next picture will give you a good idea of how Jenica felt about that idea, especially since it was another 4.8 km walk.

Not at all excited for the walk.

But not to worry, we both got back to Thalwil safe and sound.  We were even able to do some grocery shopping and prepare dinner and dessert for Kevin's birthday (March 23rd).

Toni Jogurt Update:

Since we love the yogurt and dairy here, we've decided to go through all the yogurt Switzerland has to offer.  So far, we're going through the Toni brand and got two different flavors.

Nougat Toni.  Seriously good, but not as good as Chocolate and Blood Orange.

Stracciatella Toni.  It's like eating ice cream.  Thumbs up!

Thanks for reading!

-Sir Cervelat